The AIRA Tuesday Japanese Class had a special class before summer holiday.  Usually the students study in small groups according to their Japanese levels, but on this day all the students learned Japanese through playing games together.　　 (No. 17-8)

Date and Time:  Tuesday, July 4, 2017  10:30 a.m. ~ 12:00 p.m.
Venue:  Abiko Civic Plaza Hall
Participants:  36 people (13 students and 2 toddlers, 19 volunteer teachers and 2 volunteer babysitters)

The class was emceed by a teacher and started with another teacher’s brief speech, “Let’s communicate through games today!”

They played four games and at the beginning of each game one of the students explained how to play it.

1.    “Four Corners”
There are pictures of fruits in four corners of the room and the students go to their favorite fruit.  The same is done about their favorite colors, vegetables, animals.

2.    “Catch the Ball and Introduce Yourself”
A student throws the ball saying his/her name and the one who catches it does the same.  As the game went on, they asked each other questions other than names.  It’s a good icebreaking activity.

3.    “Scavenger Hunt”
Each student draws a card on which the name of an item is written.  They ask other people where they can get the item.  They go to the table where items are prepared and say, “Excuse me can you lend me ~?” in Japanese.  And they take it to the designated place.
This is an effective activity for learning practical Japanese and the students were excited because they competed among groups.  

4.    “Rock-Paper-Scissor Train”
Two people play Janken (Japanese rock paper scissors).  The winner becomes the “engine” of a train and the loser joins the train by placing his/her hands on the engine’s shoulders.  This pattern continues until all the participants are on the same train.  Everyone got heated and the winners rejoiced.

All the students looked happy and it seemed they could learn practical Japanese through those activities.
The class finished with “sanbonjime” (Japanese ceremonial hand-clapping at the closing of a party) which was led by a teacher.

 （Translated by Chizu Yamaguchi）